From Snurfer to Slopestyle: The Epic Timeline of Snowboarding Evolution

Snowboarding has come a long way from its humble garage-made beginnings to the high-flying, rail-sliding, big-air spectacle we know today. Strap in and join this ride through snowboarding history – a timeline packed with every gnarly twist, legendary rider, and game-changing innovation that made the sport what it is. (Prepare for a deep dive, snowboard nerds – this is for you!)

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1920s–1960s: Proto-Snowboards and the Birth of the Snurfer

Long before “snowboarding” was a word, inventive souls were already trying to surf on snow. As early as 1929, M.J. “Jack” Burchett cut a plank of plywood, secured his feet with clothesline and horse reins, and attempted to glide down a hill. In 1939, three friends in Chicago (Vern Wicklund and the Burgeson brothers) even patented a “snow sled” with foot straps and an upturned nose, eerily foreshadowing modern boards. Fast-forward to the 1960s, and we meet Tom Sims, a teen who in 1963 built a “skateboard for the snow” in shop class using carpet and aluminum sheeting (instead of making the assigned birdhouse). But the true spark came on Christmas Day 1965 in Michigan, when Sherman Poppen bolted two kids’ skis together for his daughter and added a rope on the nose for steering​. His wife dubbed it the “Snurfer” (snow + surfer), and this toy took off like wildfire. Poppen licensed the Snurfer to Brunswick Corp, which sold over a million of them over the next decade​. No bindings, no fancy tech – just stand and grip a rope – but it got kids stoked on sliding sideways. Among those kids were future pioneers like Jake Burton Carpenter and Dimitrije Milovich, who first caught the snow-surfing bug on Snurfers​. Snurfer races popped up in the late ’60s, giving the nascent sport its first taste of competition. Who knew that this simple $10 toy was laying the groundwork for an alpine revolution?

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1970s: Surfing the Snow – Winterstick, Burton, and the First Shred Brands

By the early ’70s, a few inspired tinkerers set out to turn snow-surfing into a bona fide sport. Dimitrije Milovich, an East Coast surfer, moved to Utah after being inspired by riding cafeteria trays down snowy hills in upstate New York​. In 1972 he dropped out of Cornell University and started developing snowboards based on surfboards – even adding rudimentary metal edges for control​. Milovich received a patent for his “Snow Surfboard” design in 1974 and founded Winterstick (arguably the first modern snowboard company). His boards featured swallowtail tails (borrowed from surfboard design) to float in powder and were showcased in Newsweek and Powder magazines in 1975, giving snowboarding its first national exposure​. Winterstick’s powder-oriented designs made waves, but on the East Coast another visionary was hard at work.

In 1977, 23-year-old Jake Burton Carpenter (an avid Snurfer rider) moved to Vermont and started building his own snowboard prototypes in a barn, using laminated hardwood and water-ski style bindings strapped to the board​. He founded Burton Snowboards and began selling these rideable planks under his name. Out west, Tom Sims – a famous skateboarder – was simultaneously crafting snow “skateboards.” Sims had actually built a crude “skiboard” back in the ’60s, and by 1977–78 he started the Sims Snowboards brand in California. Thus began the legendary Burton vs. Sims rivalry. Both Burton and Sims hustled through the late ’70s, often literally selling boards out of their cars. They faced a ton of skepticism (people thought they were nuts!), but their passion was undeniable. Each innovated furiously – Burton adding better bindings and fins, Sims experimenting with shapes and materials – trying to one-up each other and convert skiers to this new sideways sport​. Friendly competition aside, these two brands laid the foundation for the snowboard industry. By 1979, Burton was producing the “Backhill” and “Backyard” boards, and Sims was making fiberglass “skiboards.” Other garage startups joined in too: Mike Olson built his first snowboard in 1977 (later founding Gnu Snowboards in ’84)​, and Chuck Barfoot prototyped boards in collaboration with Sims before launching his own line in ’81. The late ’70s were truly the wild west of snowboard building – more art project than science – but a grassroots community was forming.

Meanwhile, Snurfer races were still the only game in town for competition. In 1979 the annual National Snurfing Championship in Michigan became a flashpoint: Jake Burton showed up with his custom board (with bindings) and wanted to race. Organizers and other Snurfer riders cried foul – bindings gave him an advantage – but eventually they created an “Open” division just for Jake. He was the sole entrant… and of course took first place​. That moment, Jake battling the Snurfer status quo, symbolized snowboarding’s coming evolution. Also that year, a Tahoe City kid named Mark Anolik discovered a natural snow depression near an old dump site and turned it into the world’s first halfpipe for snowboarding. Riders like Terry Kidwell and others flocked to this ditch to catch air, bringing skate-style freestyle to the mountains. The stage was set for the real shred to begin.

Early homemade snowboards on display, including a 1970s Burton “Backhill” (left) – essentially a Snurfer with bindings. These primitive boards, with ropes and rubber straps, look like relics now, but they were revolutionary back then!​ The Backhill and its kin introduced the idea that you could surf on snow with your feet strapped in, laying the groundwork for modern snowboard design.

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Early 1980s: First Contests, New Tech, and the Fight for Acceptance

As the 1980s dawned, snowboarding was still fringe – but it was about to explode. In 1981, the first organized snowboard competition took place: a small contest at Ski Cooper in Colorado​. Only a handful of riders showed up, but history was made. The next year, 1982, saw the National Snowsurfing Championships at Suicide Six, Vermont – arguably the first true national snowboard race event. It featured a downhill and a slalom, with riders hitting estimated speeds over 60 mph​. This was the Burton vs. Sims showdown: Jake Burton and Tom Sims both attended with their crews. Sims actually won the downhill (ending in a spectacular crash through hay bales) but broke his thumb, and a Burton rider (Doug Bouton) took the overall title. Notably, this 1982 event was the last time Snurfers and true snowboards competed side by side – the sport was clearly moving beyond its toy-like roots. The media took note; coverage from Sports Illustrated and morning TV helped introduce America to these crazy “snow surfer” folks​. Snowboarding was starting to get serious.

In 1983, the rivalry between Burton and Sims ramped up. Jake Burton organized the National Snowboarding Championships at Snow Valley, VT that spring, but Tom Sims answered by hosting the inaugural World Snowboarding Championship in California at Soda Springs later that year​. Crucially, Sims’ event included the first ever halfpipe competition​. This was a controversial move – many racers (including Burton’s team) scoffed that halfpipe “had nothing to do with snowboarding” and threatened to boycott​. But the freestyle revolution could not be stopped. Riders like Terry Kidwell had been honing skate-style tricks in backcountry pipes, and now they finally had a stage. The Tahoe City halfpipe crew (Anolik, Kidwell, etc.) showed that catching air and doing tricks was the soul of snowboarding, not just straight racing. Kidwell won that first halfpipe comp, and freestyle snowboarding was officially born in competition.

The mid-’80s brought rapid-fire technological innovations as well. One of the most important was the invention of the highback binding, which gave riders calf support and leverage to steer the board on hardpack. In 1983, engineer Jeff Grell developed a highback attachment (sometimes called a “highback” or “highjack”) and first put it on Flite snowboards​. Suddenly, riders could control the board’s edges and turn on icy slopes much more easily. (Some credit Louis Fournier with an earlier version, but Grell’s design is the one that stuck​.) Around the same time, boards themselves were improving: companies started using P-tex bases (sintered plastic like skis) for speed in 1980, and by 1985 both Burton and Sims had introduced models with metal edges, the Performer Elite and 1500 FE respectively​. This was huge – no longer just powdersurfers, snowboards could hold an edge on hard snow, making them welcome on ski hills. Fins (little skegs on the base from surfing days) and rope leashes fell out of favor as snowboard design embraced ski technology for stability​.

Snowboarding’s culture was also taking shape. In January 1985, Mt. Baker Ski Area in Washington – one of the few resorts allowing snowboarding – held the first Legendary Banked Slalom race​. It was a throwback to surfing roots (carving turns on a natural ditch course) and it became an annual tradition still revered today. That same winter, the first dedicated snowboard magazine launched: Absolutely Radical (later renamed International Snowboard Magazine or ISM) published its debut issue in March 1985​. This DIY zine was packed with photos and irreverent stories, giving the scattered snowboard community a unified voice and legitimizing the sport in print​. Snowboard fashion at the time was loud and wild – neon one-piece suits, headbands, and often homemade gear modifications. The mainstream ski world looked on in utter confusion (or disdain). In fact, in 1985 Parade Magazine infamously declared snowboarding “the worst new sport” of the year – a badge of honor that riders wore with pride​!

By 1986, the movement was impossible to ignore. European riders had picked up on it, holding their own regional contests in the Alps​. A Swiss shredder, José Fernandes, showed up to a U.S. event on a radical asymmetrical board (shorter on the heel edge side) made by Hooger Booger, presaging the asym boards of the early ’90s​. Resorts slowly relented: Stratton Mountain, VT became the first ski resort to offer formal snowboard instruction in 1986​, and by the 1987–88 season, major resorts like Vail and Breckenridge were experimenting with designated “snowboard parks” featuring jumps and berms​. The stereotype of unruly snowboarders began to fade as more skiers saw skilled riders carving turns. A diplomacy campaign led by riders and manufacturers convinced ski area insurance companies that snowboards were no more risky than skis​. The result? In 1984 only 40 U.S. resorts allowed snowboarding – by 1990, over 475 resorts welcomed riders​. (To this day, only three North American resorts still ban snowboarders, stubborn holdouts of a bygone era​.) The ski vs. snowboard “war” of the ’80s – complete with lift line showdowns and plenty of trash talk – largely subsided as the ’90s approached. Snowboarders had earned their place on the mountain, one turn at a time.

And what about gear progression? By 1987, Chuck Barfoot introduced the first true twin-tip snowboard (identical nose and tail) designed by Canadian riders the Achenbachs and Neil Daffern – perfect for riding switch and doing tricks in both directions. That year also saw the debut of TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine, a glossy mag that would become the “Bible” of snowboard culture for decades. In 1988, the legendary freerider Craig Kelly made waves by switching from Sims to Burton after a court battle over his contract​ – a sign of how valuable star riders had become. Snowboarding was growing up fast: by the end of the ’80s, it had pop stars, pro model boards (the first was Sims’ Terry Kidwell pro model in 1985, also the first to sport a fully rounded freestyle tail), and a rapidly expanding fanbase. What started as a scrappy fringe activity now had the makings of a real sport – complete with heroes, competitions, magazines, and a hell of a lot of attitude.

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Early 1990s: Going Mainstream – Contests, Olympic Dreams, and Big Business

The early ’90s were a coming-of-age party for snowboarding. The sport’s growth was explosive. Participation was doubling every season, and snowboarders were no longer viewed as snow-devils – they were on TV, in commercials, even in movies. By 1990, nearly every major ski resort had opened its lifts to snowboards (many even set up terrain parks with halfpipes and jumps to cater to the new school). Vail’s first “snowboard park” in 1990 set the trend that others quickly followed. The counterculture had become (almost) mainstream.

Competition circuits also organized in a big way. In 1990, international riders formed the International Snowboard Federation (ISF) as a rider-run governing body for competition. They wanted to keep the sport by riders, for riders. Meanwhile, in 1994, the ski-centric FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski) decided it wanted a piece of snowboarding and began running its own World Cup events​. This led to a political tug-of-war: the ISF vs. the FIS. When the International Olympic Committee announced in 1994 that snowboarding would officially be included in the 1998 Winter Olympics​, it was under FIS jurisdiction – much to many riders’ dismay. Snowboard legend Terje Håkonsen famously boycotted the Olympics in protest of FIS control. (He was the world’s top halfpipe rider in the ’90s, so his absence in Nagano made a statement.) The clash between the rider-driven soul of snowboarding and the structures of Olympic bureaucracy was a hot debate in the mid ’90s. Despite the drama, the Olympic decision was a huge validation: the world now saw snowboarding as a real sport worthy of the biggest stage.

Snowboarding’s competitive repertoire expanded too. The first Boardercross (Snowboard Cross) events appeared – a crazy mash-up of motocross and snow, where multiple riders race head-to-head down a course of jumps and berms. The inaugural boardercross is credited to a 1991 event at Blackcomb, Canada (won by surfer-turned-snowboarder Dan Donnelly). By the mid-’90s, “Boarder X” was hugely popular, eventually becoming an X Games staple and Olympic event by 2006. On the freestyle side, big air jumping contests and slopestyle (multiple park features in one run) were emerging. The X Games itself launched its Winter edition in 1997, with snowboard slopestyle, halfpipe, big air, and boardercross as marquee events. Snowboarding was the X Games in those early years – it drew the crowds and delivered the “extreme” cred ESPN craved. Who can forget the image of a dreadlocked Shaun Palmer or a teenage Shaun White going huge for the cameras?

Speaking of Palmers and prodigies – the early ’90s also introduced the world to a cast of snowboarding superstars who drove the sport’s progression. Craig Kelly, often called the “Michael Jordan of snowboarding,” dominated freestyle contests in the late ’80s and then in the ’90s stepped away from competition to pioneer backcountry freeriding. His fluid style and four World Championship titles made him a legend​. Shaun Palmer, the brash American with pink hair, won the first ESPN Snowboarder X in ’97 and became a multi-sport icon. Terje Håkonsen from Norway reigned as halfpipe king – he won three straight ISF world titles (1993–95) and could boost higher and tweak harder than anyone. Terje even set a world record in 1990 by launching a 9.8-meter air out of a quarterpipe – a record that stood for over a decade. In freestyle, riders like Peter Line brought skateboard-inspired tricks to snow, inventing off-axis spins and founding the influential Forum team in 1996. Snowboarding also saw its first women stars: Tina Basich and Shannon Dunn were pushing women’s freestyle (both got pro model boards by 1994, a first for female riders​), and Kelly Clark would soon emerge as a halfpipe powerhouse.

While riders were progressing the sport on-hill, snowboard business was booming off-hill. By 1993, there were over 50 snowboard brands vying for sales – everyone wanted in on the craze. Some skateboard companies (e.g., Santa Cruz, which started a snowboard line in 1990​) jumped in, as did ski companies (K2, Rossignol, etc., all launched snowboard divisions in the early ’90s). The industry even hit Wall Street: in 1994, Ride Snowboards became the first snowboard company to go public on the NASDAQ, its stock surging sixfold within a year. It was the Wild West for entrepreneurs – one season you’re pressing boards in your garage, next season you’re in big-box sports stores. By the mid-’90s, snowboarding was a half-billion-dollar industry and growing. This rapid commercialization worried some old-schoolers who feared the sport would “sell out.” But the upside was huge: better gear R&D, more parks/pipes at resorts, and broader acceptance. Snowboarding had gone from outlaw to the cool kid on the block in a decade flat.

The culmination of snowboarding’s 30-year journey to legitimacy was the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. When the Games rolled around, snowboarding had two events: Giant Slalom (a nod to the sport’s alpine racing side) and Halfpipe. The Nagano snowboard competition had its share of soap opera moments – exactly what you’d expect from this rebellious sport. As noted, Terje boycotted entirely. Then Canadian racer Ross Rebagliati won the first Olympic snowboard gold (GS) only to test positive for a trace of marijuana; he was briefly stripped of his medal but got it back on a technicality (pot wasn’t officially on the banned list)​. The media had a field day with “the stoner snowboarder,” reinforcing every stereotype. U.S. halfpipe riders picked up medals (Todd Richards narrowly missed the podium, but Americans won three of six pipe medals overall), yet some of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard coaches embarrassingly didn’t even ride snowboards – highlighting culture clashes​. And in a goofy footnote, two U.S. women riders (apparently not morning people) caused a stir by refusing to wear their official Team USA uniforms to breakfast in the Olympic village. As Jake Burton later quipped, “Japan just did not go that well… it was kind of a disaster.”​ Despite the hiccups, snowboarding’s Olympic debut was auspicious. Millions worldwide watched snowboarders carve and fly in primetime, and a new generation of kids said, “I want to do THAT!” Snowboarding was now firmly entrenched in the global sports mainstream – on its own renegade terms, of course.

Snowboard cross (boardercross) races brought a new level of excitement in the ’90s – multiple riders bombing down a course shoulder-to-shoulder. By the late ’90s, boardercross was featured in the X Games and became an Olympic event in 2006. Above, riders jostle for position in a snowboard cross heat – a high-speed dance of skill, strategy, and sometimes pure chaos. The cultural rivalry with skiers faded as events like these won over audiences worldwide.

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Early 2000s: The Golden Era – Progression, Pros, and Pop Culture

The turn of the millennium saw snowboarding at the peak of its powers. The early 2000s were a golden era when the sport’s progression went into overdrive, and snowboarders became mainstream superstars. At the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, snowboarding provided the marquee moment: the U.S. men swept the halfpipe podium (Gold: Ross Powers, Silver: Danny Kass, Bronze: J.J. Thomas), and teen phenom Kelly Clark won gold in the women’s pipe. Suddenly “normies” who’d never set foot on a board were talking about switch McTwists and who had the best method air. Snowboarders were getting interviewed on The Today Show, and Katie Couric tried to sound hip saying “gnarly” – a bit of cringe we endured for the greater good​. The Olympics had fully embraced the sport (adding Snowboard Cross in 2006 and Slopestyle in 2014), but many argued the real action was still at the Winter X Games, which had permanently moved to Aspen in 2002. The X Games in the 2000s were basically the Shaun White Show – a young Shaun White racked up golds in slopestyle and superpipe, becoming a household name even to your grandma. By 2006, Shaun – dubbed the “Flying Tomato” for his long red hair – had a perfect season, winning every major contest he entered including the Olympics​. That year he went 12-for-12 in contests, an unbeaten run that no other snowboarder (not even legends like Craig Kelly or Terje) had ever accomplished​. Snowboarding had a bona fide superstar: Shaun landed on the cover of Rolling Stone, video games and sponsor deals followed, and he became the crossover face of the sport.

Trick innovation in this era was off the charts. In halfpipe, riders pushed amplitude and rotation – 1080s (three spins) became standard fare, and double-flipping tricks were in development. In slopestyle and big air, the progression was even crazier. The mid-2000s saw the first double-cork spins (end-over-end flips combined with spins) – tricks once thought impossible. By 2011, Canadian Mark McMorris stomped the world’s first backside triple cork 1440 (three off-axis flips with four rotations)​, taking freestyle to stratospheric levels. Not to be outdone, big mountain freeriders were doing jaw-dropping feats too. Take Travis Rice – he became famous for launching huge backcountry jumps in Wyoming, and in 2007 he did a switch 540 over a 120-foot gap that left everyone speechless. The limits were being shattered in every direction: alpine racers were perfecting low-carve eurocarving in hardboots, jibbers were bringing skate tech to urban rails, and women riders were rapidly closing the gap with moves like 720s and 900s in halfpipe and slopestyle.

The video and media scene was also flourishing. In the absence of YouTube (early 2000s were largely pre-social media), full-length snowboard videos were everything. Crew vids like the Forum team’s “The Resistance” (2000) and Mack Dawg Productions’ releases (“Technical Difficulties,” “Shakedown,” etc.) were passed hand to hand like sacred texts. They showcased the newest tricks and styles, from street rails to Alaskan spines, and inspired countless riders to go out and shred. In 2005, the documentary “First Descent” hit theaters, featuring legends like Terje Haakonsen and Shaun White riding together and telling the story of snowboarding’s roots – Hollywood acknowledging snowboarding’s cultural impact. Around the same time, a series of ultra-high-end films by Travis Rice raised the bar: “That’s It, That’s All” (2008) and “The Art of Flight” (2011) blew minds with next-level cinematography and backcountry freestyle that looked like something out of a video game. These films were basically big-budget love letters to the sport, and even non-snowboarders watched in awe at the alpine daredevilry.

Snowboarders also started branching into all sorts of new niches. The Alaskan big mountain scene grew, with riders like Jeremy Jones (not to be confused with freestyle Jeremy Jones) pioneering human-powered backcountry exploration on splitboards. Splitboards – a snowboard that splits into skis for uphill touring – had existed since the ’90s (Voilé released a split kit in 1994) but came of age in the 2000s as backcountry access tools. Jeremy Jones rode terrifyingly steep, remote peaks and made acclaimed films (“Deeper,” “Further,” “Higher” trilogy in 2010–2014) – he even started his own board company focused on freeride boards and splits. On the freestyle front, terrain parks became epic in scale: 70-foot jumps, huge wallrides, and 22-foot Olympic halfpipes (the halfpipe walls got massive by the late 2000s thanks to better pipe-cutting machines like the Pipe Dragon which was invented back in 1990​). Resorts vied to have the most insane park setups, and events like Snowboard Superpark (an annual photoshoot session) showcased riders attacking XXL features that make viewers gasp.

By the late 2000s, snowboarding had firmly woven itself into pop culture. You’d see snowboards on TV commercials for cars, credit cards, sodas, you name it. Snowboarders were now action sports royalty, with multi-million dollar sponsorships and signature product lines. Gear tech continued to advance: around 2006–2008 came the rise of “rocker” (reverse camber) boards, introduced by companies like Lib Tech (the Skate Banana) and Burton. This tech flipped the traditional camber upside down, making boards looser, more playful, and catch-free – it was a paradigm shift that led to today’s hybrid camber designs. Binding technology also cycled – step-in bindings had a push in the late ’90s then fizzled, but would make a comeback later. Outerwear fashion swung from the baggy neon of the ’90s to a more toned-down, skate-influenced look in the 2000s (think Volcom hoodies, Grenade gloves, and giant pants around 2003). In short, snowboarding had “arrived.” It was a staple of winter sports entertainment, but crucially it still maintained a certain edge – an identity of freedom, creativity, and fun that attracted kids in droves. As we headed into the 2010s, the question wasn’t whether snowboarding would stick around (that was a given), but rather how far can these riders possibly push it?

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2010s: Triple Corks, Social Media, and a New Generation of Legends

If the 2000s were golden, the 2010s were pure platinum for snowboarding progression. This decade saw mind-bending trick milestones, a youth wave of talent, and the sport adapting to the digital/social media era. The headline: “Triple corks” became the new benchmark trick, and eventually even quadruple corks (!) entered the chat. In 2010, Norwegian star Torstein Horgmo stomped one of the first triple cork 1440s (in the park at Camp of Champions), and in January 2011, 17-year-old Mark McMorris landed the first backside triple cork 1440 in a TransWorld Snowboarding shoot​. Seeing a rider dip their head three times in the air and spin four full rotations was almost unbelievable – the footage went viral among snowboarders. Not long after, triples started appearing in big air contests; Mark McMorris nailed the first triple in X Games competition in 2012 and won Big Air gold​. From there, the spin-to-win race escalated. By 2015, we witnessed the first quadruple corks – Billy Morgan from the UK landed a back triple + one extra flip (quad cork 1800) in spring 2015, and Canada’s Max Parrot followed with his own version shortly after. Snowboarding had officially gone beyond the once-mythical “1080 barrier” to a realm of 1620s and 1800s.

However, progression wasn’t just about adding rotations – it was also about style and inclusion. The women’s side of the sport saw revolutionary strides in the 2010s. In 2018, Austrian rider Anna Gasser became the first woman to land a triple cork (a Cab triple underflip 1260)​, silencing anyone who doubted that female riders could throw down as hard as the guys. Women like Jamie Anderson dominated slopestyle with unmatched consistency and style (Jamie won Olympic slopestyle gold in 2014 and 2018), while Chloe Kim (just a teen in 2018) was landing back-to-back 1080s in the halfpipe and making it look easy. The era also saw more focus on adaptive snowboarding – the Paralympics added snowboard cross and banked slalom for adaptive athletes in 2014, and inspirational riders like Amy Purdy (a double amputee who competed on Dancing with the Stars after winning Paralympic bronze) showed that snowboarding truly is for everyone. The community pushed for greater inclusivity in general, welcoming riders of all backgrounds. By the late 2010s, snowboard crews were more diverse, and there was growing visibility for women, adaptive athletes, and BIPOC riders in films and media.

One of the biggest changes in the 2010s was how snowboard content was consumed. The social media boom completely transformed the landscape. Instagram, YouTube, and Vimeo became the new theater for showcasing talent. Instead of waiting for the yearly video premiere, riders now dropped banger tricks online immediately. This accelerated the progression – a kid in Finland could post a trick on Instagram, and a pro in California might see it that same day and be inspired (or challenged) to try something even crazier. A great example is the rise of athletes like Zeb Powell – an American rider known for his wildly creative style, he blew up on Instagram (with clips of huge tweaks and stylish spins) and gained a massive following, eventually earning an X Games gold in the Real Snow video contest. The feedback loop of social media meant that trends in tricks and styles spread globally in an instant. You also had pro snowboarders vlogging (the likes of Ståle Sandbech and Torstein Horgmo let fans in on the behind-the-scenes life of a pro), making the sport more accessible to newcomers. By engaging directly with fans, riders built personal brands; they weren’t just contest results on paper – they were personalities you could follow daily.

Snowboarding’s event landscape expanded too. The X Games remained a pinnacle, but new competitions emerged that put unique twists on freestyle and freeride. In 2012/2013, Travis Rice partnered with Red Bull to create the Red Bull Supernatural/UltraNatural events – a hybrid freestyle backcountry contest on a course built on a remote BC mountainside with kickers and log jibs in natural terrain. These were essentially a prototype for what would later become the Natural Selection Tour. After some years of planning, Travis Rice launched the Natural Selection Tour in 2021, a series of events that marry freestyle tricks with big mountain riding in powder​. It was like the sport coming full circle – bringing freestyle back to the backcountry where the original surfy spirit of snowboarding was born, but now with pros doing switch methods off 40-foot cliffs. The tour featured both men and women, drawing Olympic slopestyle champs and legendary freeriders to compete on equal footing in Mother Nature’s arena. It was a huge hit among core riders and has quickly become one of the most exciting and progressive showcases in modern snowboarding.

On the topic of Red Bull – the 2010s had Red Bull sponsoring some of the wildest events and projects in snowboarding. Aside from Natural Selection, they backed the Double Pipe events (two halfpipes side-by-side), the UltraNatural as mentioned, and many urban rail jams and big air contests (like the Red Bull Recharged series or Heavy Metal street event). If there was a zany new contest format, chances are Red Bull had a hand in it. This kept the competitive side fresh and fun, even as Olympic formats stayed relatively traditional.

Equipment and tech in the 2010s also leveled up. Splitboarding exploded in popularity – by the mid-2010s, every big board brand offered split models, and backcountry gear sales were booming (especially after 2020 when resort access was limited; 2020–21 saw a 146% increase in backcountry snowboard equipment sales as many riders sought solace in the wilderness​). Companies innovated lighter splitboard interfaces and better climbing skins, making it easier than ever to earn your turns. Resort riders benefited from tech trickle-down too: magnetraction serrated edges from Mervin, varied camber profiles for every riding style, and boots with heat-moldable liners and Boa lacing for convenience. In 2017, Burton brought back the idea of step-in bindings with the Step-On system, eliminating straps entirely – by the late 2010s, more and more riders were clicking in and shredding without ever bending over, a far cry from the finicky step-ins of the ’90s. Safety gear improved (helmets became normcore after riders like Kevin Pearce and others underscored their importance), and avalanche airbag packs became common for backcountry enthusiasts. In short, gear got more advanced yet also more user-friendly, allowing riders to focus on the stoke.

Trick-wise at the elite level, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics were a showcase of the new progression. We saw the first-ever 1440 double corks by women in halfpipe (Chloe Kim’s back-to-back 1080s stole headlines, but by the next X Games she was doing 1260s), and the men’s big air became an 1800-fest. Canadian Mark McMorris, despite a life-threatening injury in 2017, came back to win Olympic medals and multiple X Games, solidifying his status as one of the greatest slopestyle riders ever. Austrian Anna Gasser, after nailing that historic triple cork, won the first women’s Olympic Big Air gold in 2018, further cementing that women’s snowboarding had leaped to new heights. And Shaun White, pushing well into his 30s, showed he still had it by winning a third halfpipe gold in 2018 with back-to-back 1440s in an epic final run. By the end of the 2010s, snowboarding was a multi-generational sport: you had the OGs like Terje and Jamie Lynn still ripping, Gen X and millennial stars like Travis Rice, Shaun White, and Torah Bright, and Gen Z phenoms like Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Su Yiming (the Chinese teen who took 2022 Olympic Big Air gold and silver in slopestyle at just 17). Snowboarding had truly become a global phenomenon, with top riders hailing from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, and increasingly China.

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2020s: Back to the Roots – Powder, Purpose, and Pushing Onward

The story continues into the 2020s, where snowboarding finds itself balancing high-tech progression with a refreshed love for the simple joy of riding. The early 2020s have seen a boom in backcountry snowboarding and a return to the soulful freeride vibe in some circles. This was accelerated by the 2020 pandemic when many resorts closed or limited access; suddenly, thousands of riders took to the hills on splitboards and snowshoes in search of uncrowded powder. Sales of splitboards and backcountry gear skyrocketed as more people discovered the magic of a quiet powder turn far from the lifts​. With this backcountry boom came increased emphasis on avalanche education and responsible riding – now it’s common for enthusiasts to take avy safety courses and carry beacons, shovels, probes as standard kit. The community tragically learned hard lessons about avalanche dangers (e.g., the devastating 2021 winter, one of the deadliest for backcountry users​), which has only reinforced the need for knowledge and respect for the mountains.

On the competitive front, the Natural Selection Tour (NST) has arguably become the crown jewel of 2020s snowboarding. Premiering in 2021, NST events in Jackson Hole, Baldface Lodge, and the Alaskan backcountry have delivered mind-blowing moments as riders combine freestyle tricks with big mountain lines in natural snow conditions​. The tour gave us storylines like veteran Travis Rice battling up-and-comers and Olympians on his home turf, and backcountry queen Robin Van Gyn taking the overall women’s title. It has even expanded beyond snowboarding – in 2024 Travis announced adding skiers, and separate surf and bike events, making NST a broader celebration of boardriding​. But at its core, Natural Selection signals snowboarding’s return to its roots: the idea that the whole mountain is a playground, not just the terrain park or the pipe. The tour’s jaw-dropping footage of riders threading lines through trees and stomping tricks into fluffy powder has re-ignited stoke among even the most jaded riders.

Snowboarding in the 2020s is also more environmentally and socially conscious. Pros are using their platforms to advocate for causes – from climate change (protecting winters is a common rallying cry) to diversity and inclusivity in the sport. Nonprofit programs are introducing snowboarding to underprivileged youth, adaptive snowboarders now have their own category at major events, and there’s a push to celebrate the contributions of women and minorities in what used to be a pretty bro-dominated scene. We’re seeing more women in leadership roles at snowboard companies, and grassroots movements like “Snowboarding for Equality” promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion on the slopes. The vibe is, come as you are – just ride! The gear industry is playing its part too: companies like Burton and Patagonia are focusing on sustainability, making boards out of eco-friendly materials and outerwear with recycled fabrics, aiming to ensure we can surf mountains for generations to come.

Technologically, the 2020s haven’t introduced anything as revolutionary as camber shifts or highbacks – rather, it’s been about refinement and specialization. You can get a snowboard tailored to any niche: park jib noodle, backcountry powder swallowtail, carving-specific hardboot board, ultralight splitboard, even boards with smart sensors to track your air time and rotation (still experimental, but coming). 3D base contours (like Bataleon’s Triple Base Tech or Burton’s convex noses) have gained popularity, making boards more catch-free. And for those who love carving groomers, a renaissance of “carving boards” and carving events (like the Banked Slalom revival and carve-specific camps) is underway, proving you don’t need to huck a quad cork to have fun – sometimes a perfect Euro-carve on corduroy is heaven.

Perhaps the biggest change in recent years is how content is consumed and shared. By 2025, snowboarding media is almost entirely digital. The classic mags like TransWorld Snowboarding and Snowboarder Magazine printed their final issues in the late 2010s, moving to online only. Instead, snowboard content flows through Instagram clips, YouTube series, and film projects released on streaming platforms. The upside? It’s more accessible than ever – a kid in a small town can watch the latest Burton team edit on their phone the minute it drops. The downside? Short attention spans. But snowboard filmmaking hasn’t died – on the contrary, projects have become even more artistic and story-driven to stand out. Films like “The Uninvited” (an all-women street film by Jess Kimura) or “Tangerine Dreams” (a creative backcountry film) gained cult followings online. And every year, there are still much-hyped releases such as Absinthe Films continuations or the Rusty Toothbrush crew’s quirky edits. The aesthetic now often mixes high-octane action with introspective moments – showing riders camping, exploring, embracing the journey as much as the tricks.

As of now, 2025 and beyond, what’s the forecast for our beloved sideways sport? Well, snowboarding continues to evolve but also circle back to that core feeling Sherman Poppen chased on a Michigan hill in 1965: the sensation of freedom gliding on snow. We’re seeing a blend of old and new – resorts building banked slalom courses and side hits for creative riding, while at the same time Olympic-level riders are training with foam pits and airbags to push the progression of triple and quad corks safely. On any given day at a big mountain resort, you might see a veteran rider carving with graceful precision, a park rat learning their first 540, a crew hitting urban rails at night, and a splitboarder hiking off into the back bowls – all just different flavors of stoke coming from the same source.

Snowboarding has firmly established itself not just as a sport, but as a culture and a lifestyle. It’s the punk rock kid that grew up and found its place in the world without losing its identity. From the Snurfer to the superpipe, from handmade wooden planks to space-age carbon fiber boards, from being banned on mountains to headlining the Olympics – what a ride it’s been. And through it all, one thing hasn’t changed: that inexplicable grin that spreads across your face after a sick run. As riders often say, “snowboarding is not just something we do, it’s something we live.” The history above is rich and deep, but it’s far from over – every winter brings new tricks, new technology, and new kids dropping in for the first time, eyes wide and hearts racing. The timeline of snowboarding is still being written in fresh tracks on a snowy canvas, and you can bet we’re all stoked to see where it goes next. So keep the style loose, keep the vibe alive, and never forget to send it – that’s the way of the shred, yesterday, today, and forever.

Keep calm and carve on! 

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